In memory of our brother and son, Robert Bagnell,
who died moments after being tasered by police in Vancouver, British Columbia on June 23, 2004. Bob was the 7th Canadian to die and the 110th in North America.

WELCOME to TRUTH ... not TASERS

Monday, August 21, 2017

In 2004, Arizona Republic reporter Robert Anglen researched and published the first set of 44 names, increasing to 71 names, with brief situation descriptions. By 2006, Anglen's list had grown to 167, and all later lists have roots in his work. We also had a great deal of assistance from British Columbia lawyer Cameron Ward. By mid-April 2011, this website had published 542 names and related news stories since it began in 2007. Our list includes 29 Canadian deaths.

We have now supplemented this list by tracing the names collected by Texas Police Chief Howard E. Williams for his 2007 book, Taser Electronic Control Devices and Sudden In-Custody Death: Separating Evidence From Conjecture. Williams analysed news reports and autopsies of 213 deaths from 1983 through 2005, including rare records of earlier taser models, and also included a supplementary list of 97 deaths that occurred during 2006. We have added a number of names from Williams' list that were not on ours, after finding confirming internet reports. We would like to acknowledge the assistance provided to us by Howard E. Williams during this revision.

We had other names waiting to be added as well, many of which were discovered by Kate, to whom we owe a debt of gratitude. Kate is a retired researcher and technical writer living in British Columbia, and she is compiling a database of media reported deaths and injuries subsequent to tasering. She occasionally discovers “cold cases” for the List.

The names included in this collection have been traced to at least two data sources and often to many more. As of today, September 28, 2016, this compilation now includes the names of 990 persons who died following shocks from a conducted energy weapon. Three of these deaths occurred after use of shock devices made by other manufacturers.

The list does not include persons who also were shot; or where a gun was mistaken for a taser; or where a shock weapon was used by a criminal during commission of a lethal crime. These are also tragic and worthy of study, but beyond our limits.

We know that some names must still be missing. In 2006, recording deaths turned up by search engines, TNT collected 78 American names. Williams collected 97, possibly with some access through official networks, missing only 4 that TNT had found. This implies that conscientious news search missed about 20% of the incidents, during a year when a death subsequent to taser use attracted press interest.

2000In approximately 2000, Taser International began to replace early taser
models up to the Air Taser with the M26 model and starting in 2003 by the X26.
The electrical charge is different in these models so the medical reaction
should differ. However the ways in which these weapons have been used did not
appear to differ.

In 2009, Taser International introduced the TASER
X3, designed to enable law enforcers to render three targets powerless or,
should the officer miss the target, have additional shots available quickly.

104 comments:

Your work in compiling this list has been tremendous. Thank you for publishing it. I have spend about 100 hours trying to find death cases by Internet search, starting with the lists to 2005, and traced many of them, including a small number you don't have. One of these is Scott Norberg, 1996. Search for http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/1999-04-15/news/murder-on-madison-the-norberg-remix/"A judge ruled in favor of Manning's client, affirming the man had been killed after jail guards stunned him 13 times with a Taser and kicked him in his larynx.

The man's family won $8.25 million, Manning said, the highest wrongful-death settlement in Arizona's history."

Good work on the list. Not to be nit-picky but Michael Todd Gleim was from Milford, Ohio -- not Connecticut. He died in police (Hamilton County/Cincinnati Ohio) custody being transported from one jail cell to another.

Could you please list your sources? Are you going by what was determined by a medical examiner as cause of death or just an account of a person dying at some point after being tasered? You need to list where you got your information.

Someone asked: "...determined by a medical examiner as cause of death...?"

Okay, let's lay it out:

Taser has cultivated close relationships with many leading coroners and medical examiners. They sponsor almost-'captive' organizations that sponsor nice seminars in pleasant locations. They pay for coroners to attend. They're deeply involved in the coroner and ME business. Skeptics might find this cozy Taser+Coroners relationship very suspicious.

Would you eat ice cream from an ice cream company that was this friendly with coroners and medical examiners? I certainly wouldn't.

If you ask many coroners, they'd tell you flat out that tasers are perfectly safe (because Taser told them so, and Taser wouldn't lie, would they?). Some skeptics might use the word brainwashed. Taser has had quite the head start in this.

Many of these coroners have been told that the various tasers emit only about 2 mA ("average"), but I'll bet most don't realize that the M26 emits 162 mA RMS and the X26 emits 151 mA RMS. The industry standard method to measure electrical waveforms is RMS (like your household power is 120 volts RMS).

I'll put it out again because it's important:

Taser M26 is 162 mA RMSTaser X26 is 151 mA RMS

These RMS values, which appeared on earlier revisions of their specification sheets, have been curiously expunged from the later revisions.

Why?

Taser sues coroners that have found that the taser was a contributing factor. They're in court this week in fact.

There are other coroners that list everything (EVERYTHING!) except (!) the taser. Amazing!!! Why? Well, see above. And see below too.

The taser leaves zero internal footprints. There is no physical evidence. This 'proof issue' is a huge problem for opponents of Taser. It's as if Taser has invented a magic electric rifle that can take down victims (and possibly stop their heart) without leaving a sign.

But to claim that the taser is perfectly safe in the face of such numbers is an insane position.

If Taser was honest, they would provide a numerical risk value. The number will not be zero. I've never seen such a number. Even Boeing has to submit a thick report showing their estimated risk for the wings falling off (etc.).

Look for my post "Looking for 'proof' in all the wrong places" on my blog www.Excited-Delirium.com for further discussion on this issue.

Perhaps the standard for proof should be that someone died and there were all those little Taser serial number tags found scattered around at the scene. At least it is strong evidence that the taser is a possible contributing factor to the death.

It's naive to exclude the taser as a possible contributing factor because Taser told them so.

And when you see the ethical missteps associated with Taser, you wouldn't thrust them as far as you could throw them.

Congratulations on your website- it is definitely the best I have seen on this cirical issue.

I have another (probably my last) set of six names to offer- these from searching "in custody deaths". However, I have tried a on couple of different days to submit them as another comment to your list, and am unable to do so- the last response was that my browser is blocked. So, in the interest of completeness, I will pass the message this way, for you do do with as you wish. *** Six more names April 28/08

From http://stolenlives.org/read/index.php?action=show&section=area_los_angeles.xml&display=LOS+ANGELES&area=19

April 11 1985, Cornelius Garland Smith, 35, Los Angeles, California A break-dancing black man high on PCP may be the first North American post-tasing death.

and from From Amnesty International report AMR 51/030/2006, these identifications:

June 4 2005, the unidentified man's name is Ravan Conston, 33

June 29, 2005, the unidentified man's name is Pharoah Knight, 33

Probably over 90% of the list is findable by Internet search, but some searches are indirect and slow. I think this may be the last set of names from the past that I will find. *** Kate

Thank you Kate for the names you have added to this list. I haven't added them into the master list yet because of the time that will take. But I hope to do so at some point. In the meantime, I greatly appreciate your posting them here. At least they're "with" the list. Reality Chick

I found your site after Kevin Piskura's death. You are doing a tremendous job. Just last week TASER succeeded in silencing a coroner when a Judge ruled that findings relating death to tasering had to be removed from autopsy findings.

http://preview.tinyurl.com/6zgej7

Also my son told me a 9 year old boy in Painesville Ohio died after being tasered - I can't find any record of this and wonder if anyone has information.

First I must say THANK YOU for doing this list. I hope that it will make a difference. My brother was Todd Gleim who died Oct. 23, 2006 after being tased while in custody at the Hamilton Judicial Center in Cincinnati, Oh. The cornors report lists his cause of death as excited delirium -whatever that is supposed to mean. To the best of my knowledge Todd was tased 3 times and died in custody not at the hospital. He was already dead by the time they got him there. I saw it on the tapes that were released by the Justice Center. The problem for people who have lost loved ones this way is trying to prove that the cause of death was do to being tased. It is almost impossible to fight the police and win.

I also would like to add my thoughts and prayers to everyone who has lost a loved one this way.

Thanks for posting those notes, I am the son of one of those taser victims, I was the first person contacted after the incident and after it, the police gave a laugh and said he(Richard McKinnon) caught on fire. Then when they told his sister what happened they intentionally left out the fact he had been tasered. The Dr. Sais he couldnt had ran from the taser Because he had a broke leg, neck,rib, and hip and it was impossible. He also said the burns were to severe that he had to be burning for a while to take that amount. So i agree that they should be outlawed

I noticed your list and I wish to comment on #61. Demetrius Tillman Nelson died during the same incident in which a taser was used on him. His actual cause of death was cocaine induced delirium. I'm not sure if that would warrant removal from your list, but I thought I would comment.

Tasers were used five times on him, but he sat for several minutes in irons before going into arrest. He was full of cocaine and I'm almost sure that in this case the taser was not the cause of death.

These things are tested on cops and company engineers all the time. When people are being violent, what are the police supposed to do. Granted, anything can be abused in the wrong hands.

Hi #156 on your list (Jose M.Perez) is my stepdad, i was at the house when he had been tasered and just want to say thank you for putting this list together. A lot of websites thank link to these deaths will not let you know the whole story after what happened, they always want to make the police look like they did nothing wrong when in reality thery're killing people. Yes i know that tasers are suppose to keep us "safe" and are tested on police to show how "safe and harmless" they are but Jose was tasered 21 times, had a fractured neck, and lost a number of teeth. All the police that were also involved are still working for the San Leandro Police Department after 3 years of the incident. Now, how safe is that?

Vardan Kasilyan, 29, Las Vegas, Nevada - died September 30, 2006. Medical examiner Dr. Gary Telgenhoff testified that VardanKasilyan died by choking on his own vomit. He said contributingfactors were Kasilyan's use of methamphetamine and cocaine a shorttime before the incident, the mental illness and the use of the Taser.

Rodney Fisk wrote: "These things are tested on cops and company engineers all the time."

Mr. Fisk, have you noticed that when the tasers are 'tested' on police officers (usually during their so-called training) that the taser barbs or probes are almost always placed or shot into the back, and VIRTUALLY NEVER to the chest?

You see the same thing in all the soft-news propaganda so-called news stories showing the 'brave' trainee taking the hit in the BACK, never the chest.

Now why would that be?

If they were concerned about the probes landing in the face, then they could simply wear a face mask like the sort used when operating a chainsaw (about $20).

Perhaps they're simply trying to hope nobody notices the subtle difference between back and chest.

In this way they can manufacture 'evidence' of their product's 'safety' by sheer weight of numbers of these FAKED so-called tests.

"Denominator washing" is my term for the practice.

If they're really confident about the safety of tasers, then have the trainees don a face mask and turn around.

Until they do, then they are nothing more than chicken-shit cowards and con artists using cheap stage tricks.

And it would be best if we-the-public paid enough attention to notice such slippery details.

I voluntarily took a full on Taser shot to the chest and I'm fine today. In fact, the whole argument of the difference between your front or back getting hit is laughable. The electricity flows through the area BETWEEN where the barbs are. My heart was DIRECTLY between the barbs. Here is a hint for people that want to know how to reduce Taser deaths: STOP FIGHTING WITH THE POLICE! Before Taser most officers would either have to use baton, fists, knees, kicks, or elbows. Now if you ask me, I'd rather have a 5 second ride on Taser any day if my options are the former.

Taser is a revolutionary tool that has SAVED more lives than it has taken. I know from experience.

My Uncle was Garrett Jones, thank you for adding him to your site, taser they can save lifes maybe if used right but when you hit a person a number of times with a taser then follow up with a physical altercation and repeated hitting u cant really say it was stirctly taser death.

The death of Garrett Jones was tragic and must be classified as murder in the first degree committed by law enforcement officials. Why? He was "GIVING UP" and pleaded for the cops to stop beating him. Witnesses also told the cops to "STOP OR YOU GONNA KILL HIM!!!" But they continued to beat him to death with what appeared to be their PR-24 Side Handle Baton, after the tazers were used. The involved deputies' supervising staff also stated to the press that "He (Garrett Jones) sufferred a 'CARDIAC ARREST'..." What more could be said that "Tazers" were part of contribution to Garrett's death? I haven't heard of any case of beating that resulting in cardiac arrest (heart attack). The tazers that were used caused the heart attack on Garrett and the cops used their PR-24s to finished the execution of Garrett Jones. It is a cold blooded and calculated act with the use of tazers in this case, which these cops' department allows them to use on their own discressions!!! How long since Garrett Jones stopped breathing before the cops realized that he (Garrett) was not breathing and ceased their assault upon him with their PR-24s? What caused them to look around after they completed the act of murder? Did they then realized that they took someone's life at their own discression with the use of tazer and PR-24s?

"I voluntarily took a full on taser shot to the chest and I'm fine today."

No brain damage then?

Seriously, no reasonable person is claiming that the taser is 100% lethal. It obviously isn't. But it has been termed a street level death lottery. The raw data from the street indicates that there is a low-end-single-digit chance of purely-coincidental taser-associated death when the darts hit the chest.

The FACT that virtually ALL taser training hits are taken to the BACK is clear-cut evidence that they're concerned about something. Example here and there prove nothing. Change the taser training to take the demo hits in the chest 100% of the time and let it run for a year and then (perhaps) I'll take your point more seriously.

But I'd actually expect that Taser would put in increased emphasis for aiming lower on the torso.

Until these changes are made - taser training hits to the back are FAKE.

My brother is listed on this page #341 Dewayne Chatt.My family really apprecaites you adding our loved one to your site. He was tased 7 times by 5 West Memphis police officers.He recieved no medical attention, they carried him to a jail ceil were he died 30 minutes later.No action was taken against the officers.Police officers around the United States are out of control with these devices.Something has got to be done about this, death by tasers are increasing every month and the age group is getting younger.I think the police are worst than gang bangers now.

Wow, so many people that need to be placed in the shoes of a police officer are posting on this site. To the person that wants a list of names of people whose lives have been saved by the tazer, you can list any of the police officers that used the tazer or the person that they tazed because without the tazer they may have been shot. I was present when a man was tazed (I'm not a police officer) and had he not been tazed he would be dead. The only thing that I had to do was pull 2 tazer barbs out of his leg and hip, without the tazer I would have been doing CPR. It also doesn't matter whether you get tazed in the front or the back, as a paramedic we apply the defibrillation patches to a persons back in some cases because they'll be more effective. Go to the police academy and sit in on the tazer training and you will see that it isn't taken lightly and the training is extensive. Take some time to look up most of these tazer deaths and you will see that either they needed to be shot (non-compliance with orders) or they had drugs in their system, in either case the death was earned.

The guy above me said it all. I was also present at the time of a tesering. The guy was drunk and went for the cops gun and another cop present shot him with a taser. The guy that was tasered passed out and they just cuffed him and several minutes later he was completely ok. The two cops, the suspect, and about 5 other people, including myself, were all saved thanks to this amazing tool. The cop had all the right in the world to shoot the guy but rather he had the taser which saved all of our lives.

Anonymous climing to be a Paramedic posting on 13 April 09 11:36 PM....."It also doesn't matter whether you get tazed in the front or the back, as a paramedic we apply the defibrillation patches to a persons back in some cases because they'll be more effective." 1. To tell the WHOLE truth, actually one patch goes over or in the vicinity of the sternum (chest) and the other in the mid-axillary (or possibly back ...Therefore, the current runs thru the chest (thus cardiac muscle), not left to right across the back as in the case of 2 Taser barbs in the back. So that point was a waste of space...2.The defibrillator is a coordinated electroshock device designed to cardiovert SVT or convert ventricular fibrillation from uncoordinated "cardiac muscle seizure" (fibrillation) to coordinated muscle pumping action. The Taser is a manually operated device and just like any other uncontrolled electrical surge in the body, when it takes the pathway of least resistance and that pathway happens to involve the cardial muscle/electrical pacemaking system whether by quirk, accident, or design then the same thing will happen whether house current or Taser current...

".... in either case the death was earned." REALLY??!! and your reason for becoming a Paramedic was??? Compassion? 'Doing no harm'? Helping the helpless? Serving ANY in the community that are in need of Emergency Medical Service? Seemingly NOT! I believe in capital punishment but only after judge, jury, conviction and review of the case, thoroughly. So in your opinion if there is a disagreement between law enforcement and an otherwise cooperative subject, rather than first utilize more professional techniques (which are also taught in the academy)it is justifiable for them to just jump straight to bully mode and if pushing and shoving usually 2-3 on one doesn't do it, and being atop the handcuffed subject doens't do it then the suspect has "earned" capital punishment on the street without judge, jury, or conviction?? GOOD CALL - Please, let us all know where you Paramedic so we can avoid calling for EMS when in your coverage area!! With a caring attitude like yours, I say 'no, thanks' I think I will just take my chances and drive on to the next EMS coverage area.

Just to clarify...I am a Combat Veteran (Medic)in addition to 25+ years as a civilian medic and 3 years as a firefighter/medic. Additionally I am a certified Tactical Medic (SWAT Team Medic). I know a little about what I speak of..... V4T

Thank you so much for your very educational comment SWAT Medic VRT. Unfortunately, it is a fight that we may get tired of fighting. We wil fall BUT, need to get back up. This mildly explains what I feel now in our fight for my Paul's rights! My husband Paul J. Swider (29 yrs. old) also died shortly after he was tasered on May 6, 2008 in Hammond Indiana. Please add his name to the LONG list of victims who are no longer with us and can no longer fight the legal and "coroner" beaurocracies for themselves! Unfortunately, all of these people had wonderful families who miss them so much and have to fill the void of their absence as I will have to do with our little boy who is only 3 yrs. old. He misses his VERY loving daddy EVERYDAY!!! Ignorant and uneducated comments are not appreciated!

19th century law and order is alive and well in Nashville tenn.,Only problem its the 21st century and the gun slinging pain inflicting has gone electronic with the taser.In the caseof Patrick Lee {#153), the police appeared to be too lazy and too fat {one cop was oushing 350lbs-brooks}as at least 10 cops had pat surrounded in side an enclosed parking lot not much bigger than a tennis court just simply tased him to death tasing him 19 times.The assasins officers skruggs and mays{the taser operators and killer # 3 ofc Creegan whoo asphxiated him kneeling on Pat for at least 12 min. by the way the judge decided to let Taser off the suit altogether,though taser still sent their "ExpertS" including Dr.Ho 9taser "ho")who recieves maassive amounts of money to defend taser in Litigation and Bias in his research is obvious ,! example the test for acidosis is done by checking the lactic acid cont immediatley before the tase ,immediatley after and 16 hours later-in that the acid ct . doubled but obviously 16 hours later was gone. Why wernt blood samples taken 30 min later ,1hour later,2 hours later?? answer it is to damning to Taser.It is not acceptable for the police to police themselves nor taser to monitor themselves -ea have a bias that has allowedthem to kill over $00 people We lost the case in Davison cty but will appealand tghis time we wont let Taser off the hookFamily of Pat Lee

I want to comment on the Anonymous post from April 13th, 2009 from I believe an EMT. Your last sentence is disturbing - "...in either case the death was earned." How can you say such a thing. My brother is one of the people listed on the list and I can tell you that is death was not earned!! Yes he was drunk and probably did not listen to the orders from the police, but he had a weak heart and I saw the video from the Judicial Center... let me say he was not deserving. When he clasped on the floor he was first tackeled and restrained while unconcious (already dead). Litterly you watch him die while the police stood there. Again - not deserving.

so for you pro taser guys, I guess it comes down the Devils arithmetic; how many deaths are "justifiable" vs. "genocidal", huh?and dont get me wrong; you should listen to cops (within reason) if they ask you to do something; especially if its clear you broke the law.

the problem with a taser is that its not listed a weapon of "deadly" force so the cops keep pulling the triggers over and over again.sending too many volts through a person.

to the guys that say "how come some are ok then? not all die!"

DOES EVERYBODY REACT THE SAME WAY TO EVERYTHING? (DRUGS, ELECTRICAL SHOCK, ETC)ANSWER IS NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO....

we are all different in that respect; nobody "knows" their limits until sadly its too late. some people that are tased cant handle it. especially when 3 cops tase you at once.

I can understand Law Enforcement's argument about it "saving lives". I truly do.

but its a logical fallacy and its NOT proven.

Tasers are doing more harm than good.and I cant accept that the people that died in the above list were all "bad apples" nor do I accept they are acceptable "collateral damange".

Look up anyone who was wielding a knife who was tased. There are two in the newsroll on the right. The alternative the police had to tasing them...was shooting them. Those people are likely alive today because of tasers.

Now compare that number, 412 to how many who have been killed by having to retain a suspect by hand or using mace. Take alook at the number of police killed that didn't have a taser that wouldn't have if they did. 412 death's wouldn't make a percent of that number. The taser is the safest way to control a suspect, and until something better comes along it's the best. Unless you prefer mace which has killed way more people than that, or maybe when someone doesn't comply... you think the police should just let em go. So What you killed, robbed, are driving drunk, and might really hurt someone who is innocent they should just let you go right? 95 percent of these people are victims of there on cause. Remember these people did something to get tased, and if they didn't that is a whole nother issue. Those cops should be handled for what they did, not the blame placed on a life saving tool. Look at the number of suspect deaths since the use of the taser it has dropped 42% over the first 5 years that makes something like 3425 less deaths over that period. Thats incredible

My friend Derek Kairney(who is on the list)was holding a knife while he was sheet rocking his basement. The cops who ilegally entered his home tasered him and he fell on the knife killing himself. This is what the cops say happened. The real story will probably never be known.

Taser International claims that that taser is safe with respect to internal risk factors such as cardiac effects. They still maintain there is zero causal connection to any death from internal risk factors.

Their viewpoint has now been shredded six-ways-from-Sunday. Taser use carries risk of death (denied by Taser Int'l), and tasers can cause death (denied by Taser Int'l).

Their steadfast denials makes them heavily liable for failure to warn. For many of these hundreds of deaths. Their denial of the risk increase the usage, and thereby increases the risk.

Maybe there is some mythical planet where tasers do more good than harm, but if you have an ethical bone in your body you would weight the circumstances appropriately and see that tasers do more harm than good.

Tasers are used about 100 times more often than police ever used their guns, and rate of gun fire is increased or unchanged anyway according to a large study).

Killing people that did nothing to deserve death isn't justified by saving those that perhaps deserve a lethal response. Bad karma.

Taser's pathetic lies about safety have been officially rejected, and severe restrictions are being put into place.

Them's the facts.

If you don't get it, then I'm sorry. Perhaps the arguments are too subtle for you. Perhaps you're still brainwashed. Perhaps you need to explain the taser's "Curious Temporal Asymmetry". Perhaps you need to answer the 2008 Taser Glowing Cigarette challenge on torture.

Those who defend Tasers see what they want to see. Being drunk, on drugs or not following orders should never be a death sentence. RCMP taser use has done more to ruin their reputation than anything else in the last 100 years.

Yuceff W. Young, II, died in Brooklyn, OH, on Sept. 19, 2009, in a crash of the car he was driving after a Linndale police officer had shocked him with a Taser. News reports describe Mr. Young as being from Brook Park, OH.

Indefinite defined public ‘Torture’According to the "United Nations Convention Against Torture" Is any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a male or female person for such purposes as obtaining from him, or a third person, information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him/her or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity. It does not include pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in, or incidental to, unlawful sanctions.This book offers the readers a unique of several surrealism metaphors or structures, not an all time traditional publication described by the opinionated critics as a synthesis scriptures and dramatic non-fiction, even though the tremble has been done not utmost best of its acknowledgement to share the authentic experiences to certain readers with the essential themes of life molecular, social dialogues, metaphysical exploration and unintentional alienated particular contrasts. Yet diversifying phenomenon subjects to major procrastinated topics or neither revolutionary nor a protagonist in many ways that some writers might be introduced or brought together. The author is hopeful to make sense to the readers ‘antonymic’ minds, fortify their intelligence and beliefs that reading novels is supposed to be more than knocking out time and learning the creativity of artful language styles or grammar, - heightening, alleviating or mitigating the reader’s perspective conception and contemplation. All characters represent the writers own interpretations and are written without any prejudice or malice intended. Moreover, it is wrong to generalize any case or topic of the author’s books as a principle doctrine, when each matter could have its own merit. Therefore, the author is not fraught with subtle tension, but the power of Endeavour and a ‘will’ to acknowledge peculiarity and importance. *Controversial ‘OUTLOOK’ of freedom, between glamour and ordinary. You may not do everything to change the world. At least do something for yourself, somehow focusing on making a better difference for some. The superior get richer and the poor get ‘out casted and wacked – over. It’s your choice – SAVE A LIFE or NEGLET IT!!

Your list currently shows Manuel Dante Dent as dying on Aug. 26, 2009 [No. 442] but this is the date he was shocked with a Taser; he died on the 27th.

There WAS a death in California on Aug. 26, 2009; news reports said a Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputy shocked a man in the subway [North Hollywood, Red Line] when he didn't respond to the deputy's questions, but the man collapsed and promptly died. No further news stories about this death were forthcoming; the Coroner's Office identified him as Miguel Molina, a 27-year-old Hispanic man.

This is s reply to the following question: "Since Tasers kill, then explain why every cop that carries a taser gets tasered during training and not one of them has died?"

Law enforcement officers who are shocked with a Taser during training are never shocked for more than 5 seconds, and some are shocked for only 2 seconds.

There have been only a handful of in-custody deaths where the person was shocked with a Taser for no more than 5 seconds, as law enforcement personnel are during their training.

Paracelsus, in the 1600s, said (loosely translated into English): "The dose makes the poison." This concept is the foundation of toxicology: what determines whether something is poisonous or not is HOW MUCH of it gets into the body. For a Taser, the duration of the shock is a measure of the dose. A very small "Taser dose" will not kill, whereas larger ones can and do kill. The people doing Taser training are always careful to ensure that their students get a very small Taser dose that they can easily survive. Then the poorly trained officer goes out and shocks a member of the public however many times he wants to, and some of them die, while others survive with some degree of permanent injury (and many are lucky enough to survive without any apparent permanent injury).

If every cop delivered just one 5-second Taser shock to each member of the public, the number of in-custody deaths following use of a Taser would drop dramatically.

By the way, even one 5-second Taser shock can be lethal to a person in certain situations. A properly designed training course would make officers aware of situations when a Taser should NOT be used on a person.

In summary, all these "Taser deaths" are occurring because law enforcement has NOT been PROPERLY trained in the SAFE use of an electroshock weapon.

Someone asked how many "Taser deaths" of black people had ocurred in 2009. Using a different list as my reference, I counted 44 deaths to date in 2009; 10 were identified as white, 14 as black, 5 as Hispanic ethnicity, and 15 were not identified as to race or ethnicity.

Excellent work on the list and letting people know how deadly tasers really are.

The Pittsburgh police just used a sound canon on G20 protesters that can cause eardrum damage and fatal aneurysms. [http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/blog/2009/sep/25/sonic-cannon-g20-pittsburgh]

Militaristic policing servers only the interests of the weapons and "security" industry, increases violent confrontation and makes us all less safe and less free.

Rodney Fisk sounds like he works for Taser. This is what a local paper said about Demetrius Tillman Nelson.

"Off-duty deputies with the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office were working security at Destin Commons early Saturday when an M26 Taser was used to subdue 44-year-old Demetrius Tillman Nelson of Pensacola. About 10 to 15 minutes later, Nelson went into respiratory arrest and was pronounced dead on arrival at a nearby hospital."

17-year-old Victor Steen (black male) was riding his bicycle when he was shocked with a Taser by a Pensacola (FL) police officer who was in an automobile. Victor was then struck by the officer's car. He died Oct. 3, 2009.

Here is a possible "Taser death" from May, 2008. Paul J. Swider, 29, died May 8, 2008, two days after being taken into custody by Hammond (IN) police because of his unruly behavior at a gas station. A Hammond police officer used a Taser on Swider by touching it to him (often called a "drive stun") at the time Swider was being taken into custody. Hammond Police Chief Brian Miller is quite sure that his officers are NOT responsible for Swider's death, because he considers their behavior was appropriate, and the coroner's report found that Swider died of pneumonia, a blood infetion, internal bleeding, blood clotting and organ failure. However, if Swider REALLY died of kidney failure, then it is NOT impossible that the Taser shock(s) that Swider received may have been responsible for his death. It takes up to 3 days to die from kidney failure, once the events that initiate it occur. The kidneys fail slowly, and toxins build up in the blood as kidney failure progresses. This build-up of toxins will often cause other organs to fail, so that by the time the person dies, he is experiencing multiple organ failure. If Swider had had infectious organisms in his body at the time he was shocked with the Taser, they probably would have thrived as his health deteriorated because his immune system would not have been functioning properly to keep them in check.

It is rare for a person to die of kidney failure after being shocked with a Taser, but it HAS happened. There have been 3 or 4 such deaths, all of them occuring to a person being held in jail (where the medical staff typically is unprepared to recognize and deal appropriately with a medical condition as serious as kidney failure). If Swider really died of kidney failure, it is not surprising that the coroner failed to discover this; there are tests that can be done to identify kidney failure, but if the treating physician or medical examiner has no reason to suspect kidney failure, those tests won't be ordered. So Swider's death may indeed have been caused by the Taser shock(s) he received, though further information is needed to make a final determination.

Swider's widow, Gloria Rodriguez, has filed a lawsuit in federal court, which is how knowledge of this death became public.

It has been questioned whether Derrek Kairney, who died June 20, 2009, should be on this list because his death has been officially reported to have been a suicide. I have had extensive communication with his mother, who is certain her son (whose first name is properly spelled "Derek") did NOT commit suicide. The available evidence seems to bear her out.

Derek was finishing the basement of his home when the law enforcement officers confronted him. He had a knife in his hand because he was cutting the material he was panelling the walls of the basement with.

Apparently the officers surprised Derek in the basement while he was busy, and used the Taser on him before they they had fully assessed the situation. When a standing person is shocked in the torso with a Taser, both his arms bend at the elbow rather forcfully, which means that his hands and forearms move forcefully toward his chest, such that if the hands are in a fist, the thumb side of the fist strikes the chest. Derek was holding a knife in one hand when he was shocked with the Taser, apparently with the blade extending from the thumb side of his fist. When his hands flew involuntarily toward his chest under the influence of the Taser shock, the blade of the knife he was holding was driven forcefully into his chest, so that he suffered a serious stab wound

The officers reported that Derek had committed suicide by stabbing himself, but there is absolutely no evidence that Derek had been contemplating suicide; he owned and operated his own business, which was doing well. His stab wound appears to have been an unintended consequence of the Taser shock he received.

The statement of police that Derek had committed suicide was accepted uncritically by the medical eaminer, since a stab wound was present on Derek's body and apparently his heart had been damaged by the knife.

The state investigation is still continuing. Derek's mother is trying to get the official cause of Derek's death changed to something more in accordance with reality.

People who have died from falls caused by the Taser are on this list, so even if the knife wound did cause Derek's death, the Taser still seems to have been ultimately responsible for Derek's death.

It has been officialy noted that Derek complained of having a problem breathing just before he died, just like many other people shocked with a Taser have done before THEY died, so he may have died not from his stab wound, but from the same effects of the Taser shock that have brought about the deaths of so many other people.

In summary, the investigation of Derek's death is still continuing, and the official cause of his death may yet undergo a change.

Just want to add some info about early deaths. There were at least 16 deaths in LA between 1983 and 1987. These are reported by Kornblum and Reddy (1991) in the Journal of Forensic Sciences Vol 39 No 2. The first seems to be Vincent Alvarez in August 1983.

You have Edward Buckner shown as dying on Nov. 17, 2009, but when I phoned the Hamilton County Medical Examiner's Office (where the autopsy on his body was done) and asked the date of his death, I was told it was Nov. 27, 2009.

Buckner's death has a lot in common with the death of Lawrence Frazier in 2000 in Virginia. This was a death following use of a stun gun, but it was NOT a Taser. Both men were diabetics, and Frazier was stunned several times while he was having a hypoglycemic episode. What I read in the news stories about Buckner makes me very suspicious that he also as having a hypoglycemic episode when the Taser was used on him.

For that matter, Robert Dziekanski, the Polish citizen who died after the RCMP used a Taser on him at Vancouver Airport in British Columbia, was probably also hypoglycemic when he was shocked with the Taser, too. I'm sure he had last eaten on the airplane. He had been waiting for his mother for about 10 hours, and he probably hadn't eaten at all while he was waiting for her. (If there were food vending machines in the area, he probably couldn't use them.) So it's a good guess that he was hypoglycemic, even though he wasn't a diabetic.

It could be that hypoglycemia is a risk factor for death following one or more Taser shocks.

ok, lets stop and have the officer(s) start asking, "do you have any medical issues that would preclude you from me using a taser on you...?" meanwhile, the person pulled out the 9mm pistol and fired off a shot at the police...

411. February 2, 2009: Garrett Jones, 45, Stockton, CaliforniaI knew Garrett.. He was beaten to death by the police. Here's the link to KRCA's reporting of it. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tryfYE8Ggq0)Pay attention to what the witness says. Garrett's ex girlfriend paid dearly for seeking justice against the Stockton PD. Four days before the officers returned from payed leave, her door was kicked in by swatt, her loving dog shot 4 times, her daughter was taken, and she was arressted.

You list Jermall Williams as dying July 3, 2006, in South Bend, Indiana. A front-page story in the South Bend Tribune dated Tuesday, July 4, 2006, reports his death as occurring Sunday evening, which would have been July 2.

See the following URL for the latest information (made public March 15, 2010) about how weapons like the Taser kill people:

Christopher A. Wright, Sr., was shocked with a Taser by Seattle police (in Washington state, USA) on Feb. 28, 2010. He died Mar. 5, 2010. He was a 48-year-old black man. There is a story on the Internet, but it contains very little detailed information. (I had to get his race from the King County Medical Examiner's office.)

Inquests currently being held in Australia in two 2009 tasering deaths are said to have led to revised use rules and demands for guns with controls to limit firing.April 16, 2009 Kwementyaye Rubuntja, 39, Alice Springs, Northern Territory.Taser recorder says discharged 8x 5 sec for total of 40 sec during 2 minutes. Man had bad heart and was seizure prone. Died in hospital shortly after.June 12, 2009 Antonio Galeano, 49 Queensland. Taser recorder says shot 28 times in 6 minutes. Died on site soon after.These are Autralia's first deaths; the country hasn't used tasers very long.My stats (deaths vs incidents)imply where a death occurs, it will likely be within the first 600 uses.

Many deaths are being overlooked,I live in a town of a little over a 1000,000.We have had 3 deaths by tasers in our town.The cops love to use these and blame the deaths on other health problems with there murder victim.

Error Correction: In a recent story posted on "Truth NOT Tasers", a list of cities where the Police Department has stopped using the Taser was provided that included Las Vegas, Nevada. This is an error; police in Las Vegas, Nevada, are still using the Taser. The city where the Police Department HAS stopped using Tasers is Las Vegas, New Mexico.

Your no. 512, initially unidentified, has been identified by the Coroner of Los Angeles County as Joseph Frank Kennedy, 48 years old; and while the incident took place on Sept. 17, he was declared dead at La Palma Intercommunity Hospital very early in the morning on Sept. 18.

I hadn’t seen him in over 20 years, but I knew him as Jojo Kennedy. He grew up on my block, a working class neighborhood in Anaheim, California. This was the late seventies/early eighties. He was a mouthy jerk at times, but a likeable guy nonetheless. Back in 1984 or so, I did a pretty despicable thing to him behind his back. I deserved to have my ass kicked (or worse) once he found out. He was certainly capable of it, but for some reason I still don’t understand, he didn’t. He ultimately forgave me.

I last saw him in 1988 or so. I bumped into him at the beach on Prospect Street in Newport. We chatted for over an hour like nothing had ever happened. I was clean and sober 3 years at this point, he was still doing drugs but seemed like he was doing okay. I knew he had demons, but hoped he could get past them. The grace of God had changed my life; it could change his if he gave it a chance.

I’ve often thought about Jojo over the last twenty years. He was a smart kid and extremely witty, lighting fast with the one-liners, almost always at someone else’s expense. I figured he eventually grew up, realized he didn’t know it all, and became a productive member of society. What a waste to read that he died at the hands of the LA County Sheriff’s Department. Forty-eight years old and he attacked a cop. Unbelievably stupid. I guess he still thought he knew it all.

It turns out that in 2003, a boat he was towing broke loose and killed a motorcyclist. He fled the scene, but the next day turned himself in. He went to prison for that and six additional times for violating parole. Perhaps the guilt from that episode was his ultimate demon. RIP

The motorcyclists name was Mark Stephen Burris. I pray for God’s comfort and peace upon his family.

I am writing to correct an error in the information provided for death no. 516 (Karreem A. Ali). This is shown as a Virginia death, but it actually seems to have been a death in the state of Maryland.

Both Virginia and Maryland have a Montgomery County. In Virginia, this is located in southwestern Virginia; the county seat is Christiansburg. In Maryland, Montgomery County borders on Washington, DC.

Captain Paul Starks is an officer with the Montgomery County Police in Maryland; his name was mentioned in the WASHINGTON POST story about the death of Karreem A. Ali. Also, there is a Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring, MD, which seems to be the hospital to which Karreem Ali was taken after he collapsed in custody.

All this indicates that Ali's death occurred in Maryland, not in Virginia.

It would be good to make a group or that kind on facebook. Facebook-groups are very popular right now, and that would be a good thing. I'm from Belgium, and right know the government is thinking to give tasers to the police. I feel, there will come discussions about it. I really don't like them!

I'm doing a presentation on the dangers of tasers and i am wondering if you can you tell me, of the above who has died as a result of only being tased? No underlying medical conditions, or as a result or in combination with other forces. It's taking me forever to comb through the above cases and my ideal ones to present in class woud involve situations where person X was tased, he was perfectly healthy, not on drugs, the cops didn't do anything else besides tase him and he died. I'm hoping you have some kind of master list that could help me out here because combing through these is taking forever.

Hi and thank you for your message. Unfortunately, I have never isolated which people died only from the taser, with no other contributing factors. In hindsight, I wish that I had done so. If you wish to share your findings with me, I'd be happy to publish them, with or without a hat tip to you (as you choose). Thank you.

Another death: Christopher L. Knight, 35-yr-old black man, was shocked with a Taser in Georgia on Dec. 20, 2010, when he was taken into custody by officers of the Glynn County Police Department. He died Dec. 21.

This grim list got me to work harder to bring awareness to how police are wantonly abusing Tasers. Because of laziness, cops shock just about anyone including children. It's apalling and traumatizes those who are shocked and are lucky enough to live. I hope the attitudes can change soon.

I believe the police and media only release or show videos to the public where those stunned are not horribly affected.

I also made a list of deaths that includes a link to the stories, and for ones that hadn't already been done, I wrote an unbiased summary of each death to easily ascertain the facts.

I realize that none of you have any idea what you are talking about at all. The reason people die due to tasers is that that have a serious heart condition, which means they shouldn't be doing anything to get themselves tasered in the first place, the death ratio being 1/10,000 people tased die because of it. I've done my research on this, and it's very accurate. Also, some people think that tasers are second to last line of defense, last being guns. This is a false statement. If the criminal poses a threat to officers in any way, its a warning, then if they don't cooperate, they get tasered. This is all fact. I have no reason to lie to anyone about this. If anyone doesn't see it this way, I am sincerely sorry that they cannot see the truth.

Thank you for compiling this list; and putting together this blog. My fiance, Adam Spencer Johnson, an overall healthy man unfortunately made this list after being tased at Universal Studios in Orlando for "acting irrationally" the day after his 33rd birthday. 5 security guards (off duty police officers) apparently felt his "irrational" behavior so far only depicted as pulling on his beard and hair warranted him being tased.

You people think that 662 people tased to death over 28 years is a lot? In 2010 alone, 32,788 people died in car crashes. About 1,200 people die in plane crashes each year. The ratio for cars per day is over 90 deaths a day in the USA. For planes, the ratio is over three deaths a day. In 28 years, the ratio for tasers is 0.065 deaths per day. The ratio just for 2010, according to the numbers on this list, is 0.1758 deaths per day.This is all well-researched facts, and I can tell you that the problem of deaths is not police and tasers, it is the problem of unsafe driving.

Connor- I agree that car deaths are too common, but your comparison between car-crash related deaths and taser related deaths doesn't go deep enough. Calculate a ratio between how many times a day a driver or passenger climbs into a car (I have no idea how many this is, but it's lots)versus how many die each day. Now calculate a ratio of how many times someone is shot with a taser (not a training shot but a real one) versus how many die afterward. The US Department of Justice last month released a report saying this might be "less than .25%". This will give a closer comparison of how dangerous riding in a car is versus being tasered by the police.If you could compare the danger of riding in a car with a drunken driver versus being tasered by an officer who believes that his taser is harmless and so shoots you eight times, (eg Galiano, Australia) you would still find the taser more dangerous, and might understand why people are demanding more public information and police training that acknowleges the potential danger of this weapon. At least you didn't say tasers are harmless, and I do agree about the car deaths, but that doesn't make me think that watchdogging taser use is an inferior use of time.Kate

Hi my name is Raul Gallegos Jr. Raul Gallegos reyez son this is something that injured the family greatly. He had two sons that were left behind and including my mother. This was not just police brutallity it was more than that alot more. As the article says that officer thomas noticed him when he went in to the start of his shift why ? When there were more than 60 inmates in the cells at the moment how was it just his race how he looked what was it out of all the inmates why did it have to be my father. Five years later i wonder still seeing it happen to other people getting beat for no reason or should i say as well killed every year by denver police and aurora police and they get away with it. Thomas took somebodys life a life that was worth more than what was handed out to be covered up thomas didnt even get charged still has his job and probably laughing at what happen that night. while my mother struggles to raise two kids on her own. All i ask for is bring this back up. look into the case and see what desision was reached and you and the people show what happen and tell me if you think what they did was fair. this case i belive involved a lot of dicrimination of race on both the city and attorneys side which took advantage of my mother lied to her telling her she could be deported for getting another court set to keep on with trial discriminated for not being a citizen and two kids that couldnt speak up at the moment and say what they felt. now we are left to be raised with no father figure and victim of the brutality and exess of force. i have alot more so state and i want it to be heard this can't keep happening to innocent people.

p.s plz respond whta can i do to keep fighting this. Email:adrian032910@gmail.com

Latest Taser death (in New York state): Early in the morning on Tuesday, August 30, 2011, Nicholas Koscielniak, 27, was shocked with a Taser by Lancaster police, then "became unresponsive" and was pronounced dead at the hospital where he was taken. (Lancaster is in Erie County, just to the east of Buffalo.)

Yet, While one taser gun costs a police department several thousand dollars, I think the number of taser deaths is, actually in the thousands. Because of how frequently and irresponsibly, they are used.

As a cyclist, I have heard of a number of hearing-impaired and/or epileptic cyclists getting tasered.

The hearing-impaired cyclists because law enforcement thinks the cyclist(s') is(are) ignoring the command to stop.

The epileptic cyclist(s) who has(have) a seizure have easily been mispercieved as being high on legal(or illegal) narcotics and as a result, get hit with 50,000V.

That is more than ten times the average combined amount used by the few states who still have the electric chair as a primary or secondary form of execution.

Granted a taser probe is applied differently from the death mask used in the electric chair and the police do not worry about conductivity. But a person does not need to ONLY have a heart condition for a shot from a taser gun to end up being fatal.

Taser guns are sort of picking up where the electric chair is leaving off. As the electric chair continually takes a beating from the 8th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. I wonder when the taser gun will be challenged by the 8th Amendment.

only in america would and does this kind of thing happen. I miss nothing about american life! I had my dealing with the cops in texas from doing a u turn. Ended up beaten by 8 cops and I am sure not a big gal nor was I fighting or doing anything back. I did call one an american inbreeder when he grabbed my arm and squeezed my bad arm. For that I god beaten and locked up for 2 days. I hate inbreeders.

At least one of the names on your list had eaten 2 grams of methamphetamine 4 hours prior to his death, during his traffic stop. Looking into his case is what led me here, so I haven't much input on the other names. Still, I think the fact that this man died of a drug overdose is enough to discredit your claims that all of these deaths were caused by tasers. If you want to claim that all of these occurred after a taser was used, then go right ahead. But don't implicate them as the sole cause of death. In many states, you must be tased before you're allowed to carry a taser. None of those individuals have died.

We're on Twitter!

taser-Related Deaths = 1043+ in North America

See "A LIST OF THE DEAD"According to Taser International, the taser had nothing to do with any of these deaths. According to a Reuters investigation, Shock Tactics - Part 1 - The Toll, published on August 22, 2017, more than 150 autopsy reports have cited tasers as the cause or contributor to deaths across the U.S. That number may be higher; however medical examiners and coroners are often not impartial but are instead biased in favour of the Crown or, as has been shown, they are under tremendous pressure from - among others - Taser International, to make a particular finding.See Judge rules for Taser in cause-of-death decisions

Search This Blog

Taser International finally admits risk that their weapons may affect the human heart

RCMP - TASERS POTENTIALLY LETHAL

EDITORIALS

NAVIGATING THIS SITE

This blog, which contains more than 3,000 posts, is broken down into 50 posts per page. When you reach the bottom of the last post on a page, click on "Older Posts" to see earlier posts, chronologically.

To return to the main page (and the NEWEST post) at any time, click here.

To see all posts on a specific topic, please see the "Categories of Interest" list below. To search for a specific name, word or term, use the "Search This Blog" feature at the top of this column, powered by Google.

My Brother - Robert Bagnell June 27, 1959 - June 23, 2004

to contact us

If you wish to contact us, please leave a message ("private" or otherwise) on the guestbook (see below), including your e-mail address.

2) Until such time as independent and unbiased study into the "real world" safety implications of Tasers has been properly completed, a moratorium must be imposed upon these weapons.

3) If, after independent and unbiased study has been completed, the Taser is going to remain in the police arsenal, it must be placed at a level equal to lethal force on the continuum of force and used only as a second-to-last resort.

4) Safety standards must be developed for Tasers. There are currently no Canadian safety standards in place for this weapon.

5) Police must not be allowed to investigate themselves but must be subject to independent and unbiased civilian oversight.

6) Families of people who die in police custody in Canada must be provided with funding so that they may be properly represented by legal counsel.

07. Robert Bagnell, 44 – Vancouver, BC - June 23, 2004 - X26 - "Official" cause of death: Consistent with restraint-associated cardiac arrest due to acute cocaine intoxication and psychosis. Bob's autopsy report showed marks on his body consistent to multiple taser shots, which incidently could not be affirmed by the pathologist because she could not explain those marks.

09. Samuel Truscott, 43 – Kingston, ON - August 8, 2004 - X26 - "Official" cause of death: Heart attack cause by drug overdose and "I can state categorically that the Taser did not play any role whatsoever in his death" said Chief Coroner for Ontario, Jim Cairns

24. Michael Langan, 17, Winnipeg, MB - July 22, 2008 - tasered 1 time - the autopsy report says Langan's death was caused by a heart arrhythmia brought on by the Taser shocks

25. Sean Reilly, 42 - Brampton, ON - September 17, 2008 - Peel Regional Police - X26 - tasered 2 times - the inquest jury will determine the official cause of death, however, “the forensic evidence indicated that the force used by the officers, including the Taser discharge, did not contribute to his death"

27. Trevor Grimolfson, 38 - Edmonton, AB - October 29, 2008, X26 - According to sources, after he was pepper sprayed, Trevor was tasered directly on the chest 5 times and tasered on the back of the neck 2 more times - Edmonton police said he was only tasered 2 times but testing on the tasers proves otherwise - "Official" cause of death: excited delirium brought on by drugs

29. Grant William Prentice, 40 - Brooks, AB - May 6, 2009 - RCMP - tasered 2 times - "Official" cause of death: acute cocaine toxicity and "the medical examiner also concluded the taser did not play a role in the death"

Ain't it the truth!

FEEDJIT Live Traffic Feed

80% percent of the population could be moved in either direction

Human rights activist Susan Sontag, when asked what she had learned from the Holocaust, said that 10 percent of any population is cruel, no matter what, and that 10 percent is merciful, no matter what, and that the remaining 80 percent could be moved in either direction.

THE Successes AREN'T the Problem

"The issue is not whether or not the taser can be used in a high percentage of cases to reduce death and/or physical trauma to officers and civilians alike. The issue is whether or not it's OK to kill the rest through ignorance and rationalization just because it's a small percentage ... The successes aren't the problem - the failures are. They're being told that tasers are nonlethal, so they blast away until people can't move. They're killing people by accident." Dave Siegler, father of Raymond Siegler, who died on February 12, 2004

The artistic side of Robert Bagnell

WE KNOW THIS MUCH IS TRUE

ROBERT ANGLEN

Robert Anglen, a reporter with The Arizona Republic, documented the first 167 Taser-related deaths. Mr. Anglen launched a journalistic investigation of Taser International, linking the Taser to multiple deaths, among other eye-openers.

At the 2005 Arizona Press Club Awards, Mr. Anglen won first place in the Investigative reporting category. He was the recipient of the Don Bolles Award for his report entitled "Taser tied to 'independent' study that backs stun gun'. “As part of an extraordinarily thorough investigation of Taser International, Anglen uncovered ‘smoking gun’ documents that showed the manufacturer was heavily involved in the key study that purported the devices are safe. Anglen also uncovered conflicts of interest and documented wide-spread problems with Taser safety — a matter of national and international public interest.”

In 2006, Mr. Anglen was a runner up for the Arizona Press Club's Virg Hill Journalist of the Year award. Peter Bhatia of The Oregonian wrote “Robert Anglen is an investigative reporter, pure and simple. Clearly, he is a reporter who, once he sinks his teeth into something, stays with it until the story is done. His ongoing work around the company that makes Tasers speaks to that."